When The Rains Stopped

Hello Friends!

Well, it rained; and it rained; and it rained; and it rained. Then it rained some more, but this morning after what seemed a monsoon season long wet weather system, and certainly not anything like June is supposed to be, I awoke to glorious sunshine peeping through my curtains from a bright world rejoicing as the sun glinted and danced around the pristine, freshly washed land.

Today is so beautiful; the temperature is pleasantly warm; the breeze is as gentle as a butterfly's wings beating; the sky is oh! so blue behind the cotton puffed sky; the sea is calm and gently laps the shore.

I had to get out of my cottage. After days of being stuck indoors while the deluge deluged down from above Cabin Fever was setting in. Off I set, turning left at the bottom of the road, and off into the byways and country paths that surround my cottage I strode.

Like Bilbo Baggins, I went out of my front door on an adventure.

A Hobbit walking song is a good idea!

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though we pass them by today,

Tomorrow we may come this way

And take the hidden paths that run

Towards the Moon or to the Sun.

taken from one of JRR Tolkien's poems.

I have not been out on the coast path for a few years, and this morning when I set out it was not my intention to do so as I went walking past horses and cows in the meadows 

with the music of the wild to accompany me as I sought out butterflies and bees going about their business, making honey while the sun shines brightly

Fox Moth

Painted Lady

I have tried to correctly identify, but if you know better, please leave a note in the comments!

On I wandered, following the road as it meandered through the fields, as it narrowed, and passing by some tempting little paths that I mark to return another day

So on and on I went, eventually arriving at the coast. Oh! how magnificent it looked this morning in the pre midday rising sun!

The sea so blue, so calm; the sky so big, so bold, so blue, so puffy cloud strewn and bright! The land in countless shades of green and cliffs in many hues of richest brown.  Clear as the eye can see to the wide, adventurous horizon.

Does it matter which way you turn, which way you look? I don't think it does, do you? It is all majestic in it's splendour.  I stood, I turned, I drank deep draughts of salt sea air, fresh and cool, refreshing, restoring, traveling deep into my being.

The tide is low, far out, and rock pools and caves exposed, for we are on a big Spring Tide cycle right now. How fun to explore the shallows and the nooks and crannies along the rocky shore?

I have seen many repurposing uses for the old GPO red telephone boxes, but this one is a new use to me! A doggie comfort station! How quaint; how sweet; how thoughtful indeed!

Returning to the village, I see yet another view to make me gasp, out across the Cross Square, over the rolling meadows where sheep do safely graze, and away to the vast and distant ocean.

Oh, I took many, many more photos, but they are keeping for another day!

Until next time
Deborah xo

An Early Morning Walk ~ in which daffodils abound

Hello Friends!

The gentle warm days of early Spring have arrived in my Shire so this morning it was easy to decide that housework can wait, and I will take advantage of this glorious weather and all it has to offer.

Following a fortifying breakfast of oatmeal, banana, walnuts and dates, and wrapped up warmer than I probably needed, I set off from the cottage pointing my feet towards the coast.  How glad am I that this decision was made? It was simply glorious out there this morning!

The quiet calm of the morning belies the furious hidden activity as the land awakens from a long slumbering Winter.  Soon, the peace was speckled with a confetti of notes, as a chorus of many birds started singing out their hearts, from chirruping robins, to cawing crows, and the urgent cries of gulls wheeling over the high cliffs.

As the sun pushed its way through the lightly clouded sky, away on the furthest shores of the bay a pale sea mist hides the distant cliffs, softening the milky blue waters of St Bride's Bay.

Closer to shore in the shallows the bright sunlight dances and shimmies across the rippled surface of the sea.

A tractor ploughs the land chugg chugg chugging along, chased by a rather large flock of expectant gulls, hoping for a tasty morsel, maybe a juicy worm or grub, to be uprooted in the freshly churned, velvety dark brown soil.

Sudden movement caught my eye, and some distance away, around a corner came a group of young military men, with packs on their backs, running along, thumpity thumpity thump thump thump on the hard ground beneath their feet. It did not take them long to catch me up, and I stood aside to aid their swift passage. Sweat poured off their brows as they panted their way towards their destination. I wondered how far they had come and how far they had yet to go.  I felt exhausted just watching.

When Spring comes, she brings flowers ~ oh! so many flowers, and today, as the daffodils are reaching their end the coast is starting to flourish with the first early signs of magnificent displays of coastal flowers to come.

There were daffodils, oh, so many daffodils, dotted here and there, and so many different sorts, from all yellow to pale yellow sporting deeper yellow trumpets; trumpets edged with frilly orange coral ruffles; all white petals and white trumpets; short fat trumpets or long slim elegant trumpets. Almost any combination you could think of! Here are a few growing in big clumps along the path edge ~~~

Further along, out on the path, the Spring flowers that our coastline is famous for are beginning to bloom, how this lifted my spirits to see Bladder Campion, Violets, and Sea Thrift all emerging from their long slumber since last Summer ~~~

Soon the flowers will be spectacular as more and more flowers join in the display, with great drifts of pink and white sprawling along the high cliff tops, suspended in a sandwich of blue above and below.

Nature is the best therapy, and I returned to my cottage restored and refreshed, quite ready for a delicious, thirst quenching cup of tea!

Until next time~~~
Deborah

Pretty Porthgain

Hello Friends!

After the wild and woolly lashings of Aileen against our shores, the weather has become decidedly improved with pleasant temperatures and lighter winds. I awaken each morning to the kind of days I dream of all year long while waiting, with eager anticipation, of Autumn.

This afternoon seemed a perfect day to visit nearby Porthgain, a small hamlet with an intriguing juxtaposition of quaint cottages and imposing industrial stone ruins, complete with a functional red telephone kiosk {necessary, as you won't get a very good mobile signal here} and small red post box ~~~

I was surprised at the number of cars present, but then Porthgain has two of the areas favourite hostelries, The Sloop Inn and The Shed.  Below, you can see the industrial ruins, just a hundred yards or so from the picturesque cottages {above} that are quite heavy, and when you get close, they give off a Dickensian feel, gloomy, dark, and imposing, a remnant of the industrial past, when Porthgain was a bustling hive of industry, built into the cliffs ~~~

The harbour is quite small, and today is used by local fishermen, and in the height of Summer it is very busy with visiting boats sailing the coast or looking for a quay from which to launch and sail forth into the Irish Sea ~~~

 
The tide comes in quite quickly too ~~~

Porthgain is an "on off" point for walkers along this stretch of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park where you can pick up one of the seasonal bus services, the environmentally friendly Strumble Shuttle, if you are done walking for the day and want to return, foot sore and weary, to your accommodation.

Of course, you may wish to refresh yourself with tea and cake at The Shed, or something a little stronger at The Sloop Inn before continuing along the path, or boarding your transport!

I opted for a delicious slice of Coffee Walnut Cake, loaded with walnuts and bursting with coffee flavour at The Shed, with a refreshing pot of tea ~~~

and such a pretty view, overlooking the small harbour, to look at while savouring my treat ~~~

By the time I'd finished my tea, the tide was filling up the harbour quickly indeed ~~~

A trip out would not be a trip out if I didn't take some photographs of the things that speak loudly to my creative soul, so today I found some old red brick work, a lovely, chunky, rusty chain, and a rather scary opening in the brick work ~~~

 I hope you've enjoyed our little trip out along and up the coast!  Soon, I think we'll have to get back into the garden. Yesterday, I cut back the mint, oh! did it smell divine! The tidying up, preparing to tuck the garden away for the Winter has begun ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xo

Daisy Chains and Sunshine

Hello Friends ~~~

I hope it is as sunny and springlike where you are today ~ although still a little chilly, it is a beautiful day here with a lemon curd dollop of buttery yellow sun in a pale, blueberry~kissed sky, with silky smooth wisps of whipped cream. Next door's Copper Beech dances and prances with a glistening glimmer and shimmer of beaten bronze, a perfect match for the blue sky above, and with temperatures in the high 50's I shall be very happy to be doing even the simplest of chores outside today.  Here are a few photographs from the coast path taken recently ~~~

One of the sweetest flowers of spring and summer has to be the innocent daisy that are daintily sprinkled across our lawns ~~~

Won't you join me on the lawn this afternoon? There will be tea and cake, and we shall sit on the grass and make Daisy Chains. My lawn, not yet mowed, is a green sky full of sparkling, silver stars in their own green firmament, kissed with the glistening dew of an early morning sunrise ~~~

Until next time ~~~

Deborah xo